Molecular breeding for rust resistance in wheat genotypes.

Rusts are a group of major diseases that have an adverse effect on crop production. Those targeting wheat are found in three principal forms: leaf, stripe, and stem rust. Leaf rust causes foliar disease in wheat; in Egypt, this causes a significant annual yield loss. The deployment of resistant genotypes has proved to be a relatively economical and environmentally sustainable method of controlling the disease. Gene pyramiding can be performed using traditional breeding techniques. Additionally, pathotypes can be introduced to examine specific leaf rust genes, or the breeder may conduct more complex breeding methods. Indirect selection via DNA markers linked to resistance genes may facilitate the transfer of targeted genes, either individually or in combination, even in a disease-free environment. The use of selective crosses to counter virulent races of leaf, stripe, and stem rust has resulted in the transfer of several resistance genes into new wheat germplasm from cultivated or wild species. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) technology has been adopted in a wide variety of novel approaches and is becoming increasingly recognized in wheat breeding. Moreover, several researchers have reported the transference of leaf and stripe rust resistance genes into susceptible wheat cultivars.

QTL analysis of farinograph and mixograph related traits in spring wheat under heat stress conditions.

Farinograph and mixograph-related parameters are key elements in wheat end-products quality. Understanding the genetic control of these traits and the influence of environmental factors such as heat stress, and their interaction are critical for developing cultivars with improved for those traits. To identify QTL for six farinograph and three mixograph traits, two double haploid (DH) populations (Yecora Rojo × Ksu106 and Klasic × Ksu105) were used in experiments conducted at Riyadh and Al Qassim locations under heat stress. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were used to determine the number of QTLs controlling these parameters. The genetic analysis of farinograph and mixograph-related traits showed considerable variation with transgressive segregation regardless of heat stress conditions in both locations. A total of 108 additive QTLs were detected for the six farinograph and three mixograph traits in the Yecora Rojo × Ksu106 population in both locations under heat treatments. These QTLs were distributed over all 21 wheat chromosomes except 3A. Similarly, in Klassic × Ksu105 population, there were an additional 68 QTLs identified over the two locations and were allocated on all chromosomes except 1D, 2A, 6A, and 6D. In population (Yecora Rojo × Ksu106), the QTL on chromosome 7A (Excalibur_c62415_288) showed significant effects for farinograph and mixograph traits (FDDT, FDST, FBD, M × h8, and M × t) under normal and heat stress condition at both locations. Interestingly, several QTLs that are related to farinograph and mixograph traits, which showed stable expression under both locations, were detected on chromosome 7A in population (Klassic × Ksu105). Results from this study show the quantitative nature of the genetic control of the studied traits and constitute a step toward identifying major QTLs that can be sued molecular-marker assisted breeding to develop new improved quality wheat cultivars.

Genetic diversity of the chemical composition and pod production of Prosopis juliflora trees grown in Saudi Arabia.

This investigation was conducted to evaluate pod and chemical component traits and the genetic diversity of Prosopis juliflora genotypes at two locations. The selected locations were in the middle (Qassim region) and western (Jeddah region) areas, representing two agro-climatic zones of Saudi Arabia. The measured pod characteristics included production, weight, length, filling period, and chemical composition. A wide range of variations in pod yield and chemical traits were observed in the different agro-climatic regions. The results revealed that the mean values ranged from 9.5 kg tree-1 (Jeddah) to 14.2 kg tree-1 (Qassim) for pod yield, 3.1 g pod-1 (Qassim) to 3.7 g pod-1 (Jeddah) for pod weight, and 14.8 cm (Qassim) to 16.6 cm (Jiddah) for pod length. The results of genetic diversity indicated that Prosopis genotypes in each location were distributed in three different clusters in the two regions at 60 Euclidean distances. The principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the two components (PC1 and PC2) explained 25.03 % and 20.03 % of the overall variance, respectively, which is over 45 % of the variability. The heatmap revealed that genotypes Q20, Q21, and Q24 at the Qassim location and genotypes J1, J6, and J7 at the Jiddah location exhibited positive and significant correlations with pod yield. It can be concluded that superior Prosopis genotypes (Q20, Q21, Q24, J1, J6, and J7) were identified with good traits (pod yield, pod-filling period, and protein %) in each location and may be used in the future for the selection of elite genotypes.

Wheat omics: Classical breeding to new breeding technologies.

Wheat is an important cereal crop, and its significance is more due to compete for dietary products in the world. Many constraints facing by the wheat crop due to environmental hazardous, biotic, abiotic stress and heavy matters factors, as a result, decrease the yield. Understanding the molecular mechanism related to these factors is significant to figure out genes regulate under specific conditions. Classical breeding using hybridization has been used to increase the yield but not prospered at the desired level. With the development of newly emerging technologies in biological sciences i.e., marker assisted breeding (MAB), QTLs mapping, mutation breeding, proteomics, metabolomics, next-generation sequencing (NGS), RNA_sequencing, transcriptomics, differential expression genes (DEGs), computational resources and genome editing techniques i.e. (CRISPR cas9; Cas13) advances in the field of omics. Application of new breeding technologies develops huge data; considerable development is needed in bioinformatics science to interpret the data. However, combined omics application to address physiological questions linked with genetics is still a challenge. Moreover, viroid discovery opens the new direction for research, economics, and target specification. Comparative genomics important to figure gene of interest processes are further discussed about considering the identification of genes, genomic loci, and biochemical pathways linked with stress resilience in wheat. Furthermore, this review extensively discussed the omics approaches and their effective use. Integrated plant omics technologies have been used viroid genomes associated with CRISPR and CRISPR-associated Cas13a proteins system used for engineering of viroid interference along with high-performance multidimensional phenotyping as a significant limiting factor for increasing stress resistance in wheat.

Isolation and identification of allergens and biogenic amines of Prosopis juliflora genotypes

Background: Prosopis, or mesquite (Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC.), was introduced in Saudi Arabia several decades ago and is heavily used in street, roadside, and park plantations. It shows great adaptation to the prevailing climatic conditions such as high temperature, severe drought, and salinity and spreads naturally in many parts of the Kingdom. This research was conducted to isolate allergen proteins and biogenic amines from the pollen grains of P. juliflora genotypes in Saudi Arabia from two regions, namely Al-Qassim and Eastern regions. Results: The results showed that 18 different allergen proteins were detected in P. juliflora genotypes, with molecular weight ranging from 14 to 97 kDa. Moreover, P. juliflora genotypes from the two studied regions contained eight biogenic amines, namely histamine, tyramine, tryptamine, ß-phenylethylamine, butricine, codapherine, spermidine, and spermine. All genotypes from the Al-Qassim region were found to contain all eight amines, while in the Eastern region, histamine was absent in three genotypes, spermine was absent in six genotypes, and spermidine was absent in three genotypes. Genotypes B23, E20, and E21 had the lowest biogenic amine quantity. Conclusions: All identified proteins from mesquite trees from both regions (Eastern and Al-Qassim) cause allergies in patients who are sensitive to pollen grains. Bioamines, except histamine and tyramine, were recorded at varying concentrations in different genotypes.